The Sceptre of Zanafiar - Chapter 3
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Hi all - I am a Goodreads author and this is my third children's book. My writing was heavily influenced by my late nan and following her passing I have decided to provide free access to my book in weekly installments with the kind permission of Goodreads. The second chapter is below - I hope you enjoy it!
The Sceptre of Zanafiar
CHAPTER THREE: THE SCATTERING OF THE GEMS
As soon Dravas left the room to go and bring Darius back, Caveros sat back down, resting the precious sceptre on the silk of his purple tunic, his black cloak pushed aside.
“Mine! The sceptre is mine,” he chuckled to himself. “And quite rightly so.”
Dravas had been right about one thing. He, Caveros, did not have the brilliant abilities of his cousin. And why? Because Dravas had been given all the help and advice he had needed when they were growing up – he’d even had the power of the elemental sceptre to assist him. He had become the ruler of Zanafiar, Master Elementalist and Keeper of the Sceptre, not to mention the most powerful person in the land. What did he, Caveros, have? Nothing. The ne’er do well of the family, he’d studied conjuration in the Village of Enchantment for a while, but he’d been totally useless – everything he’d conjured had come out wrong. Then he’d spent a few years working as an apprentice to an old hag of a sorceress in Parthras, and even she’d eventually grown tired of his lack of ability and thrown him out. Even to this day, anything more complex than a very basic spell – and sometimes even those – would go wrong for him. But now he had this new power, he could control the whole of Zanafiar. He lifted the sceptre again and gazed at it in wonder.
“Finally, I have power,” he said, stroking the sceptre. “I’m sorry, Dravas, dear cousin, but from this day forward the sceptre stays with me. You’ve had your time as ruler and now it’s my turn. Find your son, bring him back…but he will never be Keeper of Th –”
“Caveros! How could you?” Dravas’ voice suddenly boomed out and he swept back into the room, his eyes darkened with anger.
Caveros’ heart hammered in his chest, and he looked at his cousin in horror. “D-Dravas. I thought you had gone. I was –”
“I came back to speak with you before I departed, only to hear you planning your treachery against me, your own cousin…” Dravas shook his head, a look of despair etched on his face.
Caveros stared in bewildered silence for a moment. Then he narrowed his eyes, and a twisted smirk formed around his mouth. Why was he nervous? He held the sceptre! There was nothing that Dravas could do to him now.
“I will be the Keeper of The Sceptre from now on, Dravas,” he said defiantly. “I‘ll not let you take this away from me…ever. It is mine now, and for the first time in my life I will be the one with power instead of you. And I think I’ll start by summoning one of the king elementals and have them banish you … perhaps to Necron, with your old friend, Meerol. The perfect sol –”
“I can save you the trouble of summoning any of the elemental kings,” Dravas interrupted. “They should all be arriving here within moments.”
“What do you mean?” Caveros glared at his cousin. “How can the elemental kings appear without me, the new Keeper of the Sceptre, summoning them?”
“I’m afraid the sceptre is no longer yours, Caveros,” said Dravas softly.
“Of course the sceptre is mine,” scoffed Caveros. “I have it right here in my han –”
As he looked down at the sceptre he frowned. The gems, all seven of them, were glowing fiercely. Something was wrong. He looked back up, his hands feeling cold and clammy with nerves. To his horror, a semi-circle of figures had materialised before him, many of them huge and fearsome looking. Caveros shrank back as he realised who – or what – they were. The elemental kings.
The first figure stepped forward. It was a giant humanoid, semi-transparent in appearance, with what looked like a dragon’s head and vast wings. On the ends of its hands were large, deadly-looking talons. Caveros watched in stunned silence as it opened its huge hand, and the air gem detached itself from the sceptre and floated to the beast.
The second figure, a giant merman with a scaly silver-blue tail, seemed to glide forward. As it opened its hand, the water gem floated forward and into its palm, leaving a second gaping hole in the handle of the sceptre.
The third elemental king was in the form of an ogre-like beast, made of pure rock. The ground vibrated as it thudded forward to claim the earth gem from the sceptre.
One by one, the other figures stepped forward and claimed the gems of their element or force. A huge being made up of leaping flames reached out with a fiery hand to take the fire gem. A wooden figure, with branches for arms and legs, opened its leafy hand and the nature gem floated into it. Then a dazzling creature of pure light – Reflector – stepped forward and took the purple reflective gem.
Finally, a beautiful woman floated forward. It was the White Necromancer – the spirit princess, from the Realm of the Dead. She was dressed in pure white, and as she opened her hand, the last gem, the white necromantic gem, floated into it.
As soon as the necromantic gem made contact with the princess’ hand, all of the beings closed their hands with the gems enclosed. Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, they had gone, leaving Caveros standing there open mouthed. All that remained in the place where they had been standing was a small white book.
“As I said, the sceptre is no longer yours, Caveros. And it is now no longer mine.”
Dravas’ voice brought Caveros to his senses and he snapped his mouth shut.
“This was a safeguard,” continued Dravas. “One that not even you knew about. There were additional elemental forces protecting the sceptre, so that, as long as I was alive, if I was ever insane enough to entrust it to one who intended to misuse its powers, the elementals would take the gems from within and scatter them, thus rendering it useless. All you hold now is a simple, ordinary sceptre – one that you or I or anyone else can hold.”
As though to prove a point, Dravas stepped forward and simply took the sceptre from him.
“It is a situation I hoped would never occur.” Dravas sighed. “I never thought that I would be foolish enough to give the sceptre to someone that was not worthy of my trust. It will be an arduous task to find the gems.”
“F-Find the g-gems?” asked Caveros shakily.
“Yes, find them. Nobody, not even I, knows where the gems are now. They have been scattered all across the land. They could be anywhere from right here in Parthras, to the deepest caves in Malborious. The only one who will be able to touch them or use their powers now is the next rightful Keeper of the Sceptre – my first-born son, Darius.”
“But you gave the sceptre to me,” bleated Caveros.
“It was your selfish thoughts and intentions caused the elemental kings to scatter the gems,” said Dravas, sinking down onto one of the chairs, his head buried in his hands. “You have so disappointed me, Caveros. To think I would have trusted you with my life if necessary…”
“I’m truly sorry. I don’t know what came over me. It was the sheer feeling of power – a moment of pure insanity. I would never have really done anything foolish whilst I had the sceptre. Please forgive me,” begged Caveros.
“It does not matter now. It is too late. The gems are gone and the only way I can find them is to go in search of them with Darius.”
“But however will you know where to start?” asked Caveros. “The gems could be anywhere. What if they’re found by somebody else before you reach them?”
“Like I said before, nobody else can use or even touch the gems now, except for Darius. Wherever they are, they will remain until he finds them. And this” – Dravas stooped and picked the small, white book that lay where the elemental kings had appeared minutes earlier – “will help us find out where the gems are hidden.”
Caveros looked curiously at the book and then back at Dravas.
“Are you going to bring Darius back here to the castle first?”
“No, I cannot do that. Darius’ only way back to Zanafiar from the human world was the same way that he left – with the help of the king air elemental’s power. That is why I came back to speak with you – to ask you to remain at the castle with the sceptre until we returned, so that I could bring my son back here. But now…now that I have no way of summoning the creature…his only way back is through this.” He held up the book in his hand. “I will leave the book for Darius, and only when he is good and ready to begin this quest will it transport him to the place where the journey must begin.”
“Leave the book for him? Aren’t you going to give the book to him yourself?”
“No, he cannot have any contact with anyone from this world until he arrives in Zanafiar. The book will only transport him when, deep down in his own heart, he feels ready to leave his life behind and return here to fulfil his destiny. Until then, he can know nothing of Zanafiar’s existence,” replied Dravas.
“But how will you know where the book has taken him – and when it will transport him? Surely you do not intend to let Darius undertake this quest alone?” asked Caveros frowning.
“As the deliverer of the book I will automatically be transported to the starting point of the journey at the same time as Darius. I will be there to meet him and help him throughout this quest,” explained Dravas. “But I do not know when it will happen. For all I know, he may never be ready to leave the other world behind and come to Zanafiar. The gems could remain hidden forever, and I may never be able to bring my son back home.”
“I’m so sorry, Dravas. Were it not for me, you might have been reunited with Darius by now. Please forgive me,” begged Caveros, becoming tearful. He gave Dravas an anguished look, and saw his cousin’s face soften.
“You are my only family until Darius returns,” said Dravas gently. “So I do forgive you, Caveros. The power contained within the sceptre was too much for you to resist. It has corrupted many a good man before now and, no doubt, will do so in the future.” He tucked the book and the sceptre under his arm. “Come now, I must deliver this book to my son.”
Caveros followed Dravas out of the room and into another, larger room on the opposite side of the hallway. As they entered, Caveros gasped.
“Dravas…what is that?” He pointed towards the hazy patch of mist that lingered in the middle of the room.
“Why, that is the gateway. The gateway that will take me to the human world – to the place where Darius is,” said Dravas, looking wistfully at the mist. “I thought that when I returned my son would be with me, but that will no longer be possible. I will have to return alone.” He turned back towards Caveros. “I must leave now. I will return in due course.” As he turned back towards the mist, Caveros cried out to him.
“Wait!” He quickly walked over to where Dravas stood.
“What is it?” asked Dravas, looking puzzled.
“Take care, Dravas.” Caveros smiled, throwing his arms around his cousin and hugging him tightly.
“Goodbye, Caveros, and do not worry. I will return as soon as –” began Dravas. He suddenly stopped in mid-sentence and pushed Caveros aside. “What’s happening? Wh-what have you d-done?” he whispered.
Caveros watched silently as the patch of red spread across the middle of his cousin’s white tunic. Then, before Dravas had a chance to utter another word, he stepped forward and, raising the bloodstained knife in his hand, thrust it into him once more, twisting it until it sank in to the hilt.
“I’m sorry, Dravas, but you were wrong. The sceptre will be mine. I will be the one to deliver the book to your precious son and to take the sceptre from him when he has found all of the gems. And then I’ll simply kill him. Once there is no rightful keeper left alive, all the protective forces will be broken and I can do as I wish without risk of the gems disappearing again.” He watched as Dravas sank to his knees, the book and sceptre slipping from his hands and falling to the floor.
“Caveros…wh-why?” gasped Dravas, struggling for his final breath. The final breath came and then he was still.
Caveros knelt and picked up the book from the floor. Skimming through it quickly, he found that the pages were all blank. He was puzzled for a moment, but then shrugged. From what Dravas had said, whatever the book was going to do, it would happen when it was in Darius’ possession.
Taking it over to Dravas’ desk, he loosely wrapped it in some brown packaging – the last thing he wanted was for it to get damaged after all the trouble he had gone to. As he finished wrapping it, he caught sight of a small bottle of red liquid on Dravas’ desk. Picking it up, he scanned the bottle.
“Deceiving eye potion – works for up to four hours,” he mumbled as he read the label. He turned the bottle around and read the back label:
‘An invisibility potion with a difference…and with hilarious results. Simply put a drop of the potion onto any item, and speak the name of the person whom you wish to trick. Then sit back and watch the fun. No other, except for the one whose name you have chosen, will be able to see the item. With this ingenious potion, which works for up to four hours, you’ll have your friends wondering whether their eyes are deceiving them!’
Caveros shook his head. “Dravas, Dravas … you were the most powerful man in the land, and yet you still insisted on buying these novelties from the brewers’ stalls.” He sniggered. “Still, might just come in useful.”
He slipped the bottle of liquid into his pocket. Then, pushing back the unruly strip of silver-streaked hair, which had fallen over his eye again, he pulled his black cloak around himself, tucked the brown paper parcel under his arm and stepped through the grey swirling mist.
Hi all - I am a Goodreads author and this is my third children's book. My writing was heavily influenced by my late nan and following her passing I have decided to provide free access to my book in weekly installments with the kind permission of Goodreads. The second chapter is below - I hope you enjoy it!
The Sceptre of Zanafiar
CHAPTER THREE: THE SCATTERING OF THE GEMS
As soon Dravas left the room to go and bring Darius back, Caveros sat back down, resting the precious sceptre on the silk of his purple tunic, his black cloak pushed aside.
“Mine! The sceptre is mine,” he chuckled to himself. “And quite rightly so.”
Dravas had been right about one thing. He, Caveros, did not have the brilliant abilities of his cousin. And why? Because Dravas had been given all the help and advice he had needed when they were growing up – he’d even had the power of the elemental sceptre to assist him. He had become the ruler of Zanafiar, Master Elementalist and Keeper of the Sceptre, not to mention the most powerful person in the land. What did he, Caveros, have? Nothing. The ne’er do well of the family, he’d studied conjuration in the Village of Enchantment for a while, but he’d been totally useless – everything he’d conjured had come out wrong. Then he’d spent a few years working as an apprentice to an old hag of a sorceress in Parthras, and even she’d eventually grown tired of his lack of ability and thrown him out. Even to this day, anything more complex than a very basic spell – and sometimes even those – would go wrong for him. But now he had this new power, he could control the whole of Zanafiar. He lifted the sceptre again and gazed at it in wonder.
“Finally, I have power,” he said, stroking the sceptre. “I’m sorry, Dravas, dear cousin, but from this day forward the sceptre stays with me. You’ve had your time as ruler and now it’s my turn. Find your son, bring him back…but he will never be Keeper of Th –”
“Caveros! How could you?” Dravas’ voice suddenly boomed out and he swept back into the room, his eyes darkened with anger.
Caveros’ heart hammered in his chest, and he looked at his cousin in horror. “D-Dravas. I thought you had gone. I was –”
“I came back to speak with you before I departed, only to hear you planning your treachery against me, your own cousin…” Dravas shook his head, a look of despair etched on his face.
Caveros stared in bewildered silence for a moment. Then he narrowed his eyes, and a twisted smirk formed around his mouth. Why was he nervous? He held the sceptre! There was nothing that Dravas could do to him now.
“I will be the Keeper of The Sceptre from now on, Dravas,” he said defiantly. “I‘ll not let you take this away from me…ever. It is mine now, and for the first time in my life I will be the one with power instead of you. And I think I’ll start by summoning one of the king elementals and have them banish you … perhaps to Necron, with your old friend, Meerol. The perfect sol –”
“I can save you the trouble of summoning any of the elemental kings,” Dravas interrupted. “They should all be arriving here within moments.”
“What do you mean?” Caveros glared at his cousin. “How can the elemental kings appear without me, the new Keeper of the Sceptre, summoning them?”
“I’m afraid the sceptre is no longer yours, Caveros,” said Dravas softly.
“Of course the sceptre is mine,” scoffed Caveros. “I have it right here in my han –”
As he looked down at the sceptre he frowned. The gems, all seven of them, were glowing fiercely. Something was wrong. He looked back up, his hands feeling cold and clammy with nerves. To his horror, a semi-circle of figures had materialised before him, many of them huge and fearsome looking. Caveros shrank back as he realised who – or what – they were. The elemental kings.
The first figure stepped forward. It was a giant humanoid, semi-transparent in appearance, with what looked like a dragon’s head and vast wings. On the ends of its hands were large, deadly-looking talons. Caveros watched in stunned silence as it opened its huge hand, and the air gem detached itself from the sceptre and floated to the beast.
The second figure, a giant merman with a scaly silver-blue tail, seemed to glide forward. As it opened its hand, the water gem floated forward and into its palm, leaving a second gaping hole in the handle of the sceptre.
The third elemental king was in the form of an ogre-like beast, made of pure rock. The ground vibrated as it thudded forward to claim the earth gem from the sceptre.
One by one, the other figures stepped forward and claimed the gems of their element or force. A huge being made up of leaping flames reached out with a fiery hand to take the fire gem. A wooden figure, with branches for arms and legs, opened its leafy hand and the nature gem floated into it. Then a dazzling creature of pure light – Reflector – stepped forward and took the purple reflective gem.
Finally, a beautiful woman floated forward. It was the White Necromancer – the spirit princess, from the Realm of the Dead. She was dressed in pure white, and as she opened her hand, the last gem, the white necromantic gem, floated into it.
As soon as the necromantic gem made contact with the princess’ hand, all of the beings closed their hands with the gems enclosed. Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, they had gone, leaving Caveros standing there open mouthed. All that remained in the place where they had been standing was a small white book.
“As I said, the sceptre is no longer yours, Caveros. And it is now no longer mine.”
Dravas’ voice brought Caveros to his senses and he snapped his mouth shut.
“This was a safeguard,” continued Dravas. “One that not even you knew about. There were additional elemental forces protecting the sceptre, so that, as long as I was alive, if I was ever insane enough to entrust it to one who intended to misuse its powers, the elementals would take the gems from within and scatter them, thus rendering it useless. All you hold now is a simple, ordinary sceptre – one that you or I or anyone else can hold.”
As though to prove a point, Dravas stepped forward and simply took the sceptre from him.
“It is a situation I hoped would never occur.” Dravas sighed. “I never thought that I would be foolish enough to give the sceptre to someone that was not worthy of my trust. It will be an arduous task to find the gems.”
“F-Find the g-gems?” asked Caveros shakily.
“Yes, find them. Nobody, not even I, knows where the gems are now. They have been scattered all across the land. They could be anywhere from right here in Parthras, to the deepest caves in Malborious. The only one who will be able to touch them or use their powers now is the next rightful Keeper of the Sceptre – my first-born son, Darius.”
“But you gave the sceptre to me,” bleated Caveros.
“It was your selfish thoughts and intentions caused the elemental kings to scatter the gems,” said Dravas, sinking down onto one of the chairs, his head buried in his hands. “You have so disappointed me, Caveros. To think I would have trusted you with my life if necessary…”
“I’m truly sorry. I don’t know what came over me. It was the sheer feeling of power – a moment of pure insanity. I would never have really done anything foolish whilst I had the sceptre. Please forgive me,” begged Caveros.
“It does not matter now. It is too late. The gems are gone and the only way I can find them is to go in search of them with Darius.”
“But however will you know where to start?” asked Caveros. “The gems could be anywhere. What if they’re found by somebody else before you reach them?”
“Like I said before, nobody else can use or even touch the gems now, except for Darius. Wherever they are, they will remain until he finds them. And this” – Dravas stooped and picked the small, white book that lay where the elemental kings had appeared minutes earlier – “will help us find out where the gems are hidden.”
Caveros looked curiously at the book and then back at Dravas.
“Are you going to bring Darius back here to the castle first?”
“No, I cannot do that. Darius’ only way back to Zanafiar from the human world was the same way that he left – with the help of the king air elemental’s power. That is why I came back to speak with you – to ask you to remain at the castle with the sceptre until we returned, so that I could bring my son back here. But now…now that I have no way of summoning the creature…his only way back is through this.” He held up the book in his hand. “I will leave the book for Darius, and only when he is good and ready to begin this quest will it transport him to the place where the journey must begin.”
“Leave the book for him? Aren’t you going to give the book to him yourself?”
“No, he cannot have any contact with anyone from this world until he arrives in Zanafiar. The book will only transport him when, deep down in his own heart, he feels ready to leave his life behind and return here to fulfil his destiny. Until then, he can know nothing of Zanafiar’s existence,” replied Dravas.
“But how will you know where the book has taken him – and when it will transport him? Surely you do not intend to let Darius undertake this quest alone?” asked Caveros frowning.
“As the deliverer of the book I will automatically be transported to the starting point of the journey at the same time as Darius. I will be there to meet him and help him throughout this quest,” explained Dravas. “But I do not know when it will happen. For all I know, he may never be ready to leave the other world behind and come to Zanafiar. The gems could remain hidden forever, and I may never be able to bring my son back home.”
“I’m so sorry, Dravas. Were it not for me, you might have been reunited with Darius by now. Please forgive me,” begged Caveros, becoming tearful. He gave Dravas an anguished look, and saw his cousin’s face soften.
“You are my only family until Darius returns,” said Dravas gently. “So I do forgive you, Caveros. The power contained within the sceptre was too much for you to resist. It has corrupted many a good man before now and, no doubt, will do so in the future.” He tucked the book and the sceptre under his arm. “Come now, I must deliver this book to my son.”
Caveros followed Dravas out of the room and into another, larger room on the opposite side of the hallway. As they entered, Caveros gasped.
“Dravas…what is that?” He pointed towards the hazy patch of mist that lingered in the middle of the room.
“Why, that is the gateway. The gateway that will take me to the human world – to the place where Darius is,” said Dravas, looking wistfully at the mist. “I thought that when I returned my son would be with me, but that will no longer be possible. I will have to return alone.” He turned back towards Caveros. “I must leave now. I will return in due course.” As he turned back towards the mist, Caveros cried out to him.
“Wait!” He quickly walked over to where Dravas stood.
“What is it?” asked Dravas, looking puzzled.
“Take care, Dravas.” Caveros smiled, throwing his arms around his cousin and hugging him tightly.
“Goodbye, Caveros, and do not worry. I will return as soon as –” began Dravas. He suddenly stopped in mid-sentence and pushed Caveros aside. “What’s happening? Wh-what have you d-done?” he whispered.
Caveros watched silently as the patch of red spread across the middle of his cousin’s white tunic. Then, before Dravas had a chance to utter another word, he stepped forward and, raising the bloodstained knife in his hand, thrust it into him once more, twisting it until it sank in to the hilt.
“I’m sorry, Dravas, but you were wrong. The sceptre will be mine. I will be the one to deliver the book to your precious son and to take the sceptre from him when he has found all of the gems. And then I’ll simply kill him. Once there is no rightful keeper left alive, all the protective forces will be broken and I can do as I wish without risk of the gems disappearing again.” He watched as Dravas sank to his knees, the book and sceptre slipping from his hands and falling to the floor.
“Caveros…wh-why?” gasped Dravas, struggling for his final breath. The final breath came and then he was still.
Caveros knelt and picked up the book from the floor. Skimming through it quickly, he found that the pages were all blank. He was puzzled for a moment, but then shrugged. From what Dravas had said, whatever the book was going to do, it would happen when it was in Darius’ possession.
Taking it over to Dravas’ desk, he loosely wrapped it in some brown packaging – the last thing he wanted was for it to get damaged after all the trouble he had gone to. As he finished wrapping it, he caught sight of a small bottle of red liquid on Dravas’ desk. Picking it up, he scanned the bottle.
“Deceiving eye potion – works for up to four hours,” he mumbled as he read the label. He turned the bottle around and read the back label:
‘An invisibility potion with a difference…and with hilarious results. Simply put a drop of the potion onto any item, and speak the name of the person whom you wish to trick. Then sit back and watch the fun. No other, except for the one whose name you have chosen, will be able to see the item. With this ingenious potion, which works for up to four hours, you’ll have your friends wondering whether their eyes are deceiving them!’
Caveros shook his head. “Dravas, Dravas … you were the most powerful man in the land, and yet you still insisted on buying these novelties from the brewers’ stalls.” He sniggered. “Still, might just come in useful.”
He slipped the bottle of liquid into his pocket. Then, pushing back the unruly strip of silver-streaked hair, which had fallen over his eye again, he pulled his black cloak around himself, tucked the brown paper parcel under his arm and stepped through the grey swirling mist.
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